Hip Hop News

Hip-Hop Has Received Its Own Holiday In The United States

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Since its formation in the early 1970s, hip-hop has grown exponentially, becoming one of the biggest genres in the world. This year alone a total of ten hip-hop albums have reached No. 1 on the Billboard chart this year — the most across any genre. So it’s no surprise that the Senate decided to grant hip-hop its own official holiday.

Less than a month before hip-hop turns 48, the United States Senate passed a resolution that recognized August 11 as National Hip Hop Celebration Day. The resolution also made August “Hip Hop Recognition Month” and November “Hip Hop History Month.” The news was shared via a tweet on the official Senate Periodicals page, which also revealed that the vote was passed with “unanimous consent.” This also marks the first time that hip-hop has been recognized in any fashion by the Senate.

August 11 is an extremely important date in hip-hop’s culture, as it serves as the day in 1973 that DJ Kool Herc, born Clive Campbell, and his sister Cindy Campbell held a back-to-school party at 1520 Sedgwick Avenue in Bronx, New York. It’s this party that many have claimed as the birth of hip-hop’s music and culture.

You can view the announcement from Senate in the tweet above.

#SavageChallenge Creator Keara Wilson Rewarded With Copyright To Her Dance Moves

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Keara Wilson, the TikTok influencer who choreographed the #SavageChallenge, now owns the copyright to her moves. Her dance went viral, and inspired a challenge that Keke Palmer, Jennifer Lopez, and Megan Thee Stallion all joined in on. Wilson has since been able to live as a Tik Tok creator, a title that has now earned her the copyright to her dance moves.

This weekend, Logitech and award-winning choreographer JaQuel Knight held an event for BIPOC creators in Los Angeles. During the event, Wilson and others were awarded copyrights to their dance moves. Young Deji, Fullout Cortland, the Nae Nae Twins, Chloe Arnold, Mya Johnson, and Chris Cotter were also awarded copyrights.

“I am so thrilled to announce this collaboration with The JaQuel Knight Foundation and Logitech, a remarkable step in our goal toward creating a system of protection for young creators,” said JaQuel Knight. “The JK Foundation was ultimately started to provide a place of support for dancers (during an extremely fragile time in the pandemic, nonetheless), and to put the power back in the artists’ hands – not just for myself, but for the next JaQuel Knight. For all of the little boys and girls who look like me. The foundation’s hope is to impact, encourage, and inspire the next generation of artists, and build a community that supports each other. I am so inspired by this incredible group of choreographers and am so excited to be able to share this historic moment with them as we move toward real change in the commercial music and entertainment industries.”

[via]

 

Air Jordan 11 “Animal Print” Release Date Revealed

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One of Michael Jordan’s greatest sneakers is the Air Jordan 11 and it’s hard to debate against that. When Jordan returned from his stint in baseball, he unveiled the Jordan 11 to the world, and fans were in love at first sight. The shoe had this patent leather tuxedo feel to it that immediately resonated with sneakerheads who wanted to see something a little different from Jordan Brand. It’s a shoe that received a bunch of amazing offerings and the hype surrounding the shoe will probably never die down.

According to zsneakerheadz and sneakerfiles on Instagram, there is a brand new “Animal Print” Air Jordan 11 that will be released just in time for Black Friday. As you can see from the Instagram post below, this shoe will have a black upper while what would be patent leather is replaced with textured animal print. All of these elements come together to create an extremely unique shoe that will certainly appeal to the more eclectic sneakerheads out there.

As for the release date, you can expect these to come out on November 26th of this year for $225 USD. These are expected to drop in women’s sizes only, so you’re probably only going to get your hands on a pair if you have small feet.

Skepta Flexes Up On “Lit Like This’

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Skepta’s new All In EP release hasn’t fallen under the radar for many, as the pioneer of UK grime has become an icon abroad. The 38-year-old is now a seasoned veteran of the UK rap game though still manages to bring the same levels fire and energy that many newcomers offer. While All In features high-profile names like Kid Cudi and J.Balvin, Skepta continues to shine on his own- as evidenced by “Lit Like This.”

One wouldn’t be able to tel that Skepta ism nearing his 40’s when giving “All In” a deep dive. The track, which is driven by a simple yet gritty baseline and an intricate percussion pattern, finds Skepta as ruthless as ever, though now with a more refined and matured approach. The artist is entirely self-aware of his superstar status in his lyrics as the life of wealth and luxury radiates from the track. He frequently asserts that he doesn’t need to flex on anyone- all they have to do is pay attention.

Check out the track below:

Quotable Lyrics:

Got the girls, the cars, the money in the bank (Woo)
Keys to the house, whip bigger than a tank
So much ice it’s a joke, don’t mistake it for a prank (Ice)
When you’re lit like this, you might need to get a shank (Ice)

Obasi Jackson Flips Unused Pop Smoke “Dior” Verse For “Bad Boys”

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Last November, Pop Smoke’s bother Obasi Jackson played what he said was the original verse for “Dior” that Pop laid down. The clip was only from social media, and it sounded rough. Now, we have that verse in top form. Obasi flipped the OG verse and places it on “Bad Boys,” one of the tracks that were secretly added to Pop Smoke’s album over the weekend. 

The track has Pop Smoke delivering the verse the begin the track, but Obasi takes control of the rest of the song. The anthemic single comes right before “Dior” on the album (yes, “Dior” was added to Faith), which is the final song. 

Quotable Lyrics
Look, this Glock up on me holds six-O (‘O)
Have ’em dancin’ like Calypso (‘So)
I’m a big belly rude boy
My stomach look like a hippo (‘Po)
Tell the bottle girls, “Shake it” (Shake it)
Bring the bottles of Bel Air (Bеl Air)

Young Dolph Is High Energy On “Talking To My Scale”

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It was only a few months ago when Young Dolph announced his retirement from rap (again) following the release of Dum and Dummer 2 with Key Glock. Yet, in true Young Dolph fashion, the Memphis rapper has seemed to have enough of spending more time with his children during retirement and has blessed die-hard listeners with PAPER ROUTE iLLUMINATI, a new full length release. “Talking To My Scale”, the introductory track, kicks off the 36-year-olds eighth studio album with nothing but energy.

Young Dolph seems most comfortable with a high velocity piano and a booming 808 backing his voice as evidenced further by “Talking To My Scale”. However, the production still presents itself as incrementally more experimental with a hypnotic synth lead that leads into the more familiar piano keys. Like frequent collaborator Key Glock, the trap style drums remain relatively stagnant throughout the song and let the 808 do the work.

Young Dolph dons a familiar flow on the track while flexing about his come up from a life of struggle. With a slightly more creative instrumental and hard hitting drums and vocals, there isn’t much more you could want from a Young Dolph track.

Check it out below:

Quotable Lyrics:

If I sacrificed myself, will I go to hell?
In my trap house countin’ guala, talkin’ to my scale
My jewelry box havin’ more water than Wisconsin Dells
Trap n****, I count money better than I spell

Air Jordan 9 “Particle Grey” Set To Drop In 2022: First Look

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If you were a fan of Michael Jordan in the 90s, then you certainly remember his short-lived stint in baseball. Jordan wanted to pursue his childhood sport and unfortunately, it didn’t work out as well as he wanted it to. During that time, Nike continued to release new Jordan models even if he wasn’t going to be playing in them. One of those shoes was none other than the Air Jordan 9, which continues to be one of the most underappreciated Jordan models of all time.

Next year, the Air Jordan 9 will be getting a brand new colorway in the “Particle Grey” model. In a new mockup from Sneakerfiles and @zsneakerheadz, you can see that the shoe mostly has a black base, while the sides and back heel are silver. From there, we have just a bit of red on the Air Jordan logo near the tongue, which ultimately helps liven the shoe up a bit. These elements come together to create a solid shoe that will certainly be a favorite amongst Jordan 9 collectors.

According to the post below, it is being reported that these will drop on January 8th of 2022 for a price of $190 USD. Stay tuned for more updates on these kicks, as we will be sure to bring them to you. Also, let us know what you think, in the comments below.

Dave East Sets Himself Apart On “Just Another Rapper”

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Dave East’s accomplishments are well known at this point. With a number of critically acclaimed and commercially successful mixtapes and an ever-growing acting portfolio, East was right where he needed to be to drop this week’s flex-heavy Hoffa album. The album, produced exclusively by Harry Fraud, mixes East’s classic New York flows with Fraud’s mafia-themed beats. While most tracks off of Hoffa center around East’s high-profile life after an upbringing rooted in struggle, “Just Another Rapper” off of the tracklist is a true “screw you” to all of his haters.

Whatever you have, Dave East has more of it as the track starts off- “Anything you put up, I can match it/ Make a hunnid, take fifty and you stash it.” Backed by a simple instrumental of muffled horns and overblown 808’s, East gives no space for silence between bars as he increases the length of his flow after every line. After a number of previous tracks discussing his impoverished upbringing, “Just Another Rapper” finds East tired of not having. So instead, he lists all the things he wants- cars, clothes, women- and how he’s already got them. 

Check out the track below:

Quotable Lyrics:

Anything you put up, I can match it (I can match it)
Make a hunnid, take fifty and you stash it (Stash it)
Spend the other fifty on some fashion
Drivin’ in the Bentley like I’m ’bout to crash it (Skrr)

You Can Now Stream “F9” From Home

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Just one month after its release, the ninth film in the Fast & Furious franchise, F9: The Fast Saga, is available to stream from home.

Upon its monumental June 25 release, the film topped box office numbers in a post-COVID world with $70 million opening weekend in a North American market where about 80% of theatres were open, eclipsing 2019’s Hobbs & Shaw spin-off which earned $60 million in the domestic market its opening weekend.

In true pandemic fashion, however, the film’s video-on-demand release has been rushed for viewers still opting to stay-at-home during uncertainty.

Frazer Harrison/Getty Images

Directed by Justin Lin, F9 picks back up with its standard cast in tow as Vin Diesel and John Cena appear as rival brothers. If you haven’t already seen it, you can probably guess the gist of the plot from there.

Consistently priced at $20, the film is currently available on Amazon Prime, FandangoNow, YouTube, Microsoft Movies, Redbox On Demand, Vudu, and Apple TV. Left out of the initial release are services like HBO Max and Peacock, which are likely to tag along later on in the year in the case of the latter while availability on HBO is likely to occur sometime next year.

Isaiah Rashad & Pop Smoke Get The Spotlight In This Week’s “Fire Emoji” Playlist

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Throughout the last few weeks, fans have been anticipating the release of Kanye West’s brand new album DONDA. Of course, Kanye ended up delaying the release until August 6th, much to the chagrin of fans all around the world. Regardless, the album is, indeed, on the way and we should have some new tracks as of next week. In the meantime, there have been plenty of great releases, and we are proud to present some of them on our weekly “Fire Emoji” playlist.

First up on the playlist, we have Isaiah Rashad’s brand new effort with Lil Uzi Vert called “From The Garden.” This is one of the standout songs off of Rashad’s new project The House Is Burning, and fans are already deeply in love with this new body of work. From there, we have Paper Route EMPIRE’s new joining “I Do This” which features the likes of Key Glock and Gucci Mane.

Pop Smoke gets some recognition on the playlist as well thanks to the track “Bout A Million” with 21 Savage and 42 Dugg. This is then followed up with Toosii and Fivio Foreign’s latest collaboration “spin music.”

Last but not least, we have the Sleepy Hallow and Coi Leray-infused joined “2055” which certainly adds a unique twist to our playlist’s tracklist.

You can check out the entire “Fire Emoji” catalog, below.